Please turn with me this evening to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 11. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity in their hearts. Ecclesiastes 3 is a chapter we might be somewhat familiar with. I have preached on the whole chapter before, but tonight just wanted to focus on this one verse, as we sometimes do. A particular set of thoughts in preparation for coming to the Lord's table this evening. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has put eternity in their hearts. Now as we know, Ecclesiastes are the words of the great King Solomon. And the words here in the beginning of chapter 3, to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven, They're known to many people today, particularly in terms of a folk song, but maybe people hear this reading at funerals sometimes, and so there's some familiarity with it. But it's not just pretty prose. It wasn't so long ago that we've looked at passages from Ecclesiastes and seen that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Solomon is teaching something to do with the pointlessness of life without God. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, all is vanity. In chapter 1, dealing with the cycles of life, that there's nothing new under the sun. Chapter 2 spells out Solomon's own foolish experiment with all of the pleasures that the world had to offer And with everything you can imagine, architecture, horticulture, servants, flocks, collections of treasures, the finest music, multiple partners, all, he says, vanity and grasping for the wind. No satisfaction to be found in it. And chapter 3 is simple, yet profound, speaking about times for various events. Some certain, some not so. All the experiences of life, I think, you can find in those opening eight verses. They're all there. Some of them are shocking, some of them are pleasing. Some of them are positive, some are negative, but they're all opposites, the ones that are expressed. And it's almost a summary of all of human existence in those eight verses. And what it illustrates is that every event in life, whether natural or chosen as it were, is in fact predisposed. Life can be easy, or hard, but this is God's world, His creation. We are within time, we are within the bounds of His work, and He is in absolute control. And I want then to look at this 11th verse, especially the middle phrase here, He has put eternity in their hearts. Well, the verse begins with creation. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Echoes of Genesis 1.31 and others. He saw that everything was very good. He has made everything beautiful. And everything in its own way, down to the smallest creature or organism, has a beauty and a complexity which advances in scientific knowledge only serve to make greater in our understanding. I'm sure I've told you before of the testimony that I've heard of those who watch atheistic nature programs on the BBC and have been converted, because whatever the commentator was saying, they just looked at what they saw and thought, this is not credible. It is not possible that something so complex, something so beautiful, should come about by chance. People are converted even by viewing things which are broadcast with the opposite intent. But the more scientific knowledge we have... The smaller the details that we can see through microscopes and all this kind of thing, the more we can understand, the more incredible it all becomes. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Charles Bridges, a great commentator, says, there is a beauty even in the smallest thing, as if the whole divine mind had been centered in its formation. which I think it's not an as-if, I think that is true. Absolutely everything in this world that the Lord God has made receives His equal attention. His divine mind is expressed in every creature, in everything that we see. And of course we know that creation is tainted by sin and is running down and has all sorts of flaws and problems because of the fall. But we see, nonetheless, the hand of the Creator. And everything is beautiful in its time or season, whether that be winter, summer, autumn, spring. But there is reference to what's gone before in this chapter. This isn't just about creation. The chapter begins, to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. And this is an important thing for us to remember. Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes life seems so troubled, chaotic. The truth that we must come back to as Christian believers is that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are the called according to his purpose. And we come back to this truth when we are bereaved, and we come back to this truth when we are sick, and we come back to this truth when we are poor, and we come back to this truth when we are at our wits' end with some trouble or other, we come back to this truth when we are fatigued, we come back to this truth and we acknowledge it, even though at the depth, at the height of fatigue, the depth of despair, the peak of sickness, or whatever it might be, even though at those times we have not the faintest clue how. How can this work together for good? Well, that's above our pay grade. We know that all things do work together for good. And Solomon reminds us, to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. God is in control. His actions are not without purpose. It may not seem so to us, but when the due time comes, everything will be seen to have been suited, ordained, arranged right. And you say, I just don't see it. When will I see it? Maybe it will be as we have sung, then Lord shall I fully know, not till then, how much I owe. When will that be? When I stand with Christ on high, looking o'er life's history. And that may be the case. Some things are revealed to us in this life. Some things we do see the purpose in. Sometimes some things come and we see the wisdom of God and the hand of God and we rejoice and we give Him thanks. Other times we are simply to trust and to wait and to know that we shall see and we shall understand one day. One day, to everything there is a season, a time, for every purpose, under heaven. That's the reality. As the verse finishes, then Lord shall I fully know, not till then, because nobody fully knows the plans and purposes of God within this world. We can't grasp Look at the verse we're looking at, verse 11. He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. What's Solomon saying? What does he mean? What does the Word of God mean here? Well, it's quite straightforward, really. We can't work it all out from beginning to end. People try to, people try to work all sorts of things out from beginning to end, and they fall over their own feet and they make fools of themselves. But we're not designed for that, we're not really capable of that, to know it all from beginning to end. Not yet, not yet. Evil ultimately will be overruled for good, as Joseph testified. The things that were written aforetime were written for our learning. And Joseph said to his brothers, the things that you intended against me for evil, the Lord intended them for good. It's a wonderful, important lesson. But in the midst of these thoughts that we have about the loving providence and superintendence of God over all things is this phrase, He has put eternity in their hearts. Now. King James Version, very familiar to many of us, says he has put the world in their hearts. Every other version now says eternity, and even a commentary on a King James Version study Bible I was looking at from people who were very much in favour of the King James Version says, well it really ought to say eternity here, not world. The truth is you're not going to find the same word translated as world contextually, almost anywhere in the Old Testament. It's just, I can't work it out myself, I can't work out why. I've never been able to read an explanation as to why the translators chose to go with the word world there instead of eternity. It should be eternity. I've got no problem with preaching upon the word eternity here, I'm quite sure it ought to be here. And the best sense of it, I suppose, the use of the word world, might be in terms of the way of that expression we know fairly well, world without end. It is intended to be something greater than us, not just the world, but the whole universe, the greatness of everything. But still, eternity is better, because world tends to bring to our minds the thoughts of the globe, just the globe. So eternity is definitely the better word here. Here is the heart of what it means, friends, to be made in the image of God. This is what God has done. He has put eternity in our hearts. What does it mean? It means that every human being has innately within them the sense that this cannot be all that there is. There must be more. There must be this purpose. There must be this directing hand. There must be meaning. There must be something beyond the temporary and the finite. There must be something beyond Death. And this is the reality. And this is put within the heart of every man and woman and boy and girl. And it is the explanation for so many expressions of the human spirit that we see. Because why else would people do what they do? People seek meaning in so many directions. They run in many false directions, yes. But there is this longing for meaning, this longing for more, this striving within every human soul, that when it's misplaced, only leads to misery, seeking satisfaction in so many false places. The reality is that you and I have been created with eternity in our hearts. Eternity in our hearts. That well-known quote from Augustine, Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee. That's the truth. Man has been made to take it in, to drink it in, if you like, to grasp something of the wonder of the vast creation of God and of all His revelation. And yet there is more than just that, because the longing for more within each one of us can never be satisfied without Christ. And then, when Christ is found, or rather, when he finds us, when our eyes are opened, when the wonder of what he has done begins to dawn. The wonder is increased, I say, a thousandfold. Is it any wonder that Paul would just give out? He would just exclaim in his writings. He would suddenly pause and just burst out in praise. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. That's Romans 11, 33. This is the truth. We come to know Christ and suddenly our perspective changes all the more. There is a wonderful hymn that we haven't got to singing yet because it has its own tune and it's quite a tough one. This is where Yvonne starts worrying. We're not singing it, don't worry. But not yet anyway. But it has this wonderful verse. It's based on Psalm 104. when at thy word my soul excursive flies through earth and air into thy regal skies from world to world new wonders shall I find as all the godhead dawns upon my mind to thee my soul shall endless praises pay join with the angels in eternal day. He has put eternity in our hearts, friends, and we long for more, and we come to understand that God is, and that He has sent His one and only Son, and we are filled with amazement, and our perspective changes, and everything changes, and we come to grasp something of the truth of His Word, and we live for Him, and our lives are filled with Him, and then we die, and it gets even better! That's the reality. He's put eternity in our hearts. We're already ready to some extent. We're already longing for what is to come. It's better than everything so far. To know Jesus Christ. There is no greater thing in the world. Of course not. But when we pass from this world we are going to see Him face to face. From world to world new wonders shall I find as all the Godhead dawns upon my mind. It's just going to be indescribable. So glorious. He's made us for this. He's made us for this. He's not made us to live 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 years and die and be forgotten. He's made us to live eternally. And He shall. We shall be with Him instantly when we die. But He shall recreate, renew, restore gloriously our bodies. We will be as He intends, as He intended. Where is it that we can find rest during a rapidly passing life and a decaying world? He's put eternity in our hearts, you see. We've got this constant longing for something more, for something greater. Where? is rest to be found? Where is hope to be found? Where is joy and peace to be found? It's at the cross of Christ. It's there. I know a place where night, where sins are washed away. I know a place where night is turned to day, burdens are lifted, blind eyes made to see. There's a wonder working power in the blood of Calvary. It's at the cross, at the place where the Lord himself has suffered and died and paid the price for my sin. It's here that the longing for eternity and the vastness and the greatness of God makes sense. It's here that it all fits together. Oh, how cruel would it be for God to make man and to put eternity in his heart and to leave him to perish. But He's not done that. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And at that moment, at the cross, that intersection of time and eternity, that moment on which all history turns, God Himself, in human form, bears away the punishment due to all his people in all ages. God himself opens the door to eternity, to the longing of every human heart that will turn to him. It's only there that it makes sense. It's here that mortal man can lay hold of what he needs to access that infinity, that infinity of life and bliss, to be reconciled to God, the first and only cause of all life and meaning and joy. We come to the Lord's table this evening reminded of the great themes of this chapter, but of this thought, that he has put eternity in our hearts. We cannot find out the work that he does from beginning to end. But when we come to the table, we see that we shall find out the work that he has done from beginning to end. We shall know, we shall see these things. As another hymn writer based on a psalm says, When all this weary life is past, and I awake with thee, to view the glories that abide, then how I shall be satisfied. We will see, and we will know, and it all holds together, comes together, it all begins, and is sealed, and is completed at the table, at the cross of Christ. Time is God's creation. Time, in a sense, is our enemy. We're all running out of it. We can't slow it down. We try to improve it, make the most of it. But I'm reminded again of this poem by Henry Twelves about how time goes. When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept. When as a youth I waxed more bold, time strolled. When I became a full-grown man, time ran. When older still I daily grew, time flew. Soon I shall find, in passing on, time gone. O Christ, wilt thou have saved me then? Amen. That is the poem. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away. It is something which increases in velocity. Time, we all know this is true. As children, time just seems to just, we're waiting for the next thing and the next thing, and it seems to take forever, and now we're just wondering how on earth we've got to where we are, and where the last week went, the last year went, the last decade went, what on earth has happened? We make a joke about it, sure, but it's serious in a sense. He's put eternity in our hearts. And in one sense, a Christian may say, the faster time rolls on, the better it is. As fast as my moments roll on, they bring me but nearer to Thee. Another hymn. He has put eternity in our hearts, friends. This longing, this comprehension, this desire, what will satisfy it? only the living water, only the bread of life, only the Son of God, only the One who joins time and eternity and fits mortal man to live forever. Oh, we should rejoice in these things. We have been made in the image of God and that at Calvary's cross We are then equipped to live in the image of God for all eternity because of what he has done, how we should rejoice in these things. May he bless these thoughts to our hearts this evening. Amen.